The Resistible Rise of Arturo U - Bertolt Brecht
The Resistible Rise of Arturo U - Bertolt Brecht
The Resistible Rise of Arturo U - Bertolt Brecht
of Arturo Ui
PROSE
Brecht on Theatre
Brecht on Art and Politics
Brecht on Film and Radio
Diaries 19201922
Journals 19341955
Bertolt Brecht
Methuen Drama
Methuen Drama
Methuen Drama
Bloomsbury Publishing Plc
50 Bedford Square
London WC1B 3DP
www.methuendrama.com
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application should be addressed to Jerold L. Couture, Fitelson, Lasky, Aslan and
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Translators Note
1
According to John Lahr: Screwballs and Oddballs, The New Yorker, 5
April 2004: 76.
vi Translators Note
which closed within its first week,2 Taboris text was again used
in New York by director Simon McBurney and an all-star cast
led by Al Pacino; Ben Brantley of the New York Times found much
to admire in the acting, direction and design, but ultimately
concluded that the tedium of the material itself had sunk the
show (making no proper distinction between Taboris material
and Brechts). Manheims version had also fizzled on stage in
1991 in the Classic Stage production starring John Turturro; Mel
Gussow attributed the evenings lack of success to the play itself
(again with no acknowledgement of the faults of the translation).3
My initial goal was therefore to craft a speakable text that
would enable Brian to deliver the plays speed, political satire,
style and dramatic action effectively to an English-speaking
audience. In the first place this would mean a text quite free
of that tell-tale woodenness of speech, so typical of verse
translations of poetic drama, that brings certain death on
stage. But scholars will be scholars; and once I realised that the
play had not been translated in almost thirty years, I decided
that while I was at it I might as well aim for a translation that,
though suitable for performance, is textually accurate enough
to serve for teaching and study purposes as well. Accordingly,
my three chief criteria for this translation were (1) speakability
(since speech is the medium of a verse drama like Ui and
nothing will work if the medium is broken); (2) fidelity to the
gestus,4 or attitude of the original at any given moment; and
2
It ran from 11 to 16 November 1963. Actors such as James Coco and
Michael Constantine joined Plummer in the cast; Tony Richardson
directed, David Merrick produced, and Jule Styne provided the music.
3
Gussow, Brechts Cauliflower King . . ., New York Times, 9 May 1991;
Brantley, Scarface? . . ., New York Times, 22 October 2002.
4
A proper definition of Brechts concept of gestus is impossible here. The
word has a long history in the German theatre, going back to Lessing and
Schiller in the eighteenth century, but it takes on a very specific meaning in
Brecht. In the simplest possible terms one could say that the gestus of a play
or scene or speech is its ideological attitude and flavour, its political subtext
as manifested in its style of delivery. See John Willetts Brecht on Theatre
(New York: Hill and Wang, 1978) for extensive explanatory material from
Brecht himself.
Translators Note vii
5
In addition to the films themselves, online dictionaries of gangster-slang
served as my sources.
Translators Note ix
6
I say second-rate because Brecht is mute about many of the specific
features of Nazi ideology that were so attractive to its adherents and
enablers, and makes no mention of race theories, death camps, the
enslavement of Europes Jews, gays, gypsies, and other Non-Aryans, and
so on. On the other hand, it is important to note that the historical events to
which the play alludes span the years 1929 to 1938 only.
x Translators Note
7
In North-American English today, trust is rarely used in a business or
commodities context; its much more likely to be assumed to refer to the
trust fund of a rich kid or the trusteeship of executors of a will.
8
Alternatively, he may have been signalling that the group is an Austrian
import.
xii Translators Note
9
Brecht wanted the play to recall certain events familiar to us all.
Directors today who supply audiences only with the now-arcane and
no longer particularly familiar details of the 1932 Osthilfeskandal are not
making epic theatre, but a sort of museum theatre (see Gerz, 1323 for the
chronological events).
The Resistible Rise
of Arturo Ui
Characters
Announcer
Flake, Caruther, Butcher, Mulberry and
Clark (businessmen, heads of the Cauliflower Trust)
Sheet (dockyard owner)
Old Dogsborough
Young Dogsborough
Arturo Ui (gang boss)
Ernest Roma (his lieutenant)
Emanuele Giri and Giuseppe
Givola (gangsters florists)
Ted Ragg (reporter for The Star)
Dockdaisy
Bowl (Sheets accountant)
Goodwill and Gaffles (City Councillors)
OCasey (an investigator)
Actor
Hook (wholesale vegetable dealer)
Bodyguards
Gunmen
Vegetable dealers from Chicago and Cicero
Newspaper reporters
Fish, a defendant
Defence Counsel
Judge
Doctor
Prosecutor
Woman
Young Inna (Romas confidant)
Short man
Ignatius Dullfeet
Betty Dullfeet (his wife)
Dogsboroughs servant
Prologue
The Announcer steps before the canvas curtain, on which several large
notices are affixed:
Latest news scandal on the waterfront!
Battle over Dogsboroughs Will and Confession
Sensation at warehouse fire trial!
Ernesto Roma rubbed out by his gang!
Ignatius Dullfeet blackmailed and murdered!
The Mob takes Cicero City!
Oompah band behind the curtain.
One
Why shouldnt we, loyal taxpayers that we are, get help from
the city for once
Say, a loan to build new docks, so that vegetables can be
brought in cheaper?
With his influence, Old Dogsborough could arrange it for sure.
Butcher But he wont go near it.
Flake Dammit, the waterfronts his home riding!
Hes gotta do something to help us.
Caruther Ive shelled out for years to his campaign fund.
Mulberry Hell before he went into politics, he ran Sheets
cafeteria!
It was our bread that kept him alive. The ingratitude!
Like I said, Flake: aint no more human decency.
Its not just cash were short of its decency too.
They run like rats from the sinking ship,
Friend turns foe, servants wont serve,
And our good old pal from the snack bar
Gives us the cold shoulder.
Where do morals go in times like these?
Caruther Never would have expected that of Dogsborough!
Flake What does he say?
Butcher Says the ideas fishy.
Flake Fishy! Theres nothing fishy about building docks.
Thats work and food for thousands!
Butcher He says he doubts were really building docks.
Flake Thats ridiculous.
Butcher What, that were really not building them?
Flake No, that he doubts us!
Clark Then find someone else to push the loan through.
Mulberry Yeah, someone else.
Butcher Maybe; but theres no-one like Dogsborough.
Relax hes a good man.
One 9
Three men saunter past, the gangster Arturo Ui, his lieutenant
Ernesto Roma, and a bodyguard. Ui stares at Flake, as if expecting
to be addressed, and as they leave, Roma shoots him a nasty look.
Sheet Whos that?
Flake Arturo Ui, the gangster. So, you selling?
Sheet He seems to want to talk to you.
Flake (laughing angrily) No kidding. Hes been hounding us
With offers to help move our vegetables with
machine-guns.
12 The Resistible Rise of Arturo Ui
Two
Three
Hey. Heres Ragg from The Star. Nobody knows more about
This stuff than Ragg. Hey, Ragg!
Ragg (slightly drunk) Hello you two! Hello, Roma. Hello Ui.
How goes it in Capua?
Ui Whats he talkin?
Ragg Just kidding ya, Ui. Capua was this third-rate little town
Where a mighty army went to shit from too much sloth,
indulgence and inactivity.
Ui Go to hell.
Roma (to Ragg) No fighting! So: whats the scoop about this
loan to the Cauliflower Trust?
Ragg Whats it to you?
You selling vegetables these days? Oh, I get it you
Want a loan from the city too. Ask Dogsborough!
The old manll push it through. (imitating him.)
Can we allow a fundamentally healthy business to wither on
the vine,
Just from a temporary crisis of liquidity?
Not a dry eye in the house. Everyones heart goes out
To the cauliflower as if their souls were made of the stuff.
Ah, but Tommy-guns dont inspire that kind of tenderness,
do they, Arturo?
The other customers laugh.
Roma Dont needle him. Hes in a lousy mood.
Ragg No kidding. They say Givolas
Already asked Capone for a job.
Dockdaisy (very drunk) Thats a lie you leave Giuseppe
outta this!
Ragg (to Dockdaisy) And there she is, the broad of Givola,
Givola the Gimp.
Fourth moll of a third-rate lieutenant of a fast-fading star of a
second magnitude.
O cruel fate!
Dockdaisy Somebody shut his stinkin trap!
Three 19
Ragg Ah, the poor gangster struts and frets his hour upon the
stage and is heard no more.
A fickle public picks new heroes faster than the mob in Rome,
And yesterdays favourite is forgotten his mug-shot yellows
in a dusty drawer.
Hey, people, didnt I do some damage? When was that?
Back then.
Those wounds scarred over long ago and even the nicest
scars turn to dust in the end, with their bearers
Is it true that in this world, where good deeds count for
nothing,
Evil ones leave no trace neither? Not a trace. Ah, cruel world!
Ui (yells) Shut his yap!
The bodyguards approach Ragg. The other patrons rise to their feet in
alarm.
Ragg (turning pale) Hey watch how you treat the press, Ui.
Roma (pushing Ragg away) Get lost, youve said enough. Go
on, beat it.
Ragg (backing out, now scared) Catch you later!
The room empties quickly.
Roma Arturo, youre a wreck.
Ui Guys treat me like dirt.
Roma Cause youve been quiet for so long, thats all.
Ui (sombre) Wheres Giri with this accountant we keep
hearing about?
Roma Supposed to be here at three.
Ui And whats this about Givola and Capone?
Roma Its nothing. Capone just went over to his flower shop
To buy some wreaths.
Ui Wreaths? Who for?
Roma I dunno. Not us.
Ui Dont be too sure.
20 The Resistible Rise of Arturo Ui
Four
And the view of the lake, like silver before its minted
Into coins. And no sour smell of day-old beer!
Those fir-trees look pretty too, especially at the tips. A dusty,
greyish-green.
And the colour of the trunks reminds me of the leather we
used to wrap
Around the beer-taps. But what really sold me was the
poplars. Yes, it was
The poplars. Its Sunday. Hm. Those bells would sound so
peaceful
If it werent for all the evil in the world. But what can
Butcher want,
On Sunday? I never should have. . . .
Young Dogsborough (returning) Father, Butcher says they
voted at City Hall tonight
To investigate the dockland scheme. Father! Whats wrong?
Dogsborough My smelling salts!
Young Dogsborough (giving them) Here.
Dogsborough What does Butcher want?
Young Dogsborough He wants to come over.
Dogsborough Here? Impossible.
I dont feel well. My heart. (He gets up. Grandly:)
I have nothing to do with this. For sixty years Ive walked the
Straight and narrow and the city knows it.
Their schemes cant touch me.
Young Dogsborough Yes, father. Feel better?
Servant (enters) A Mr Ui to see you. . . .
Dogsborough The gangster!
Servant Yes, his picture was in the paper. He says that a
Mr Clark
Of the Cauliflower Trust sent him.
Dogsborough Throw him out. Who sent him? Clark? To
hell with him.
What, hes threatening me with gangsters now? Ill
24 The Resistible Rise of Arturo Ui
Silence.
Ui Mr Dogsborough. I realise you dont know me or
Maybe just by reputation, which is worse.
Because, Mr Dogsborough, what you see before you is a
much disparaged man,
Whose image has been blackened by the envy of others,
His good intentions twisted by malicious minds.
Fourteen years ago, when I first came to this city to start my
career
In which, by the way, Ive been remarkably successful
I was unemployed, a poor son of the Bronx,
With nothing to my name but seven tough and loyal boys, all
penniless like me,
And like me all determined to carve their chunk of steak
From every cow on Gods green earth.
Well, I got thirty youngsters now, and soon therell be more.
Now you might be wondering: What does Ui want from me?
Nothing, really except one thing: Not to be misunderstood!
Four 25
Five
Clark Looks like the unexpected death of poor Sheet has just
torpedoed this investigation.
OCasey Actually, the unexpected is often quite
Predictable some people even bet on it;
Such is life, huh? But it puts me in a tight spot.
Since according to the paper poor Mr Sheet isnt talking
much anymore,
I trust you wont insist that I confine my questions to him
alone. . . .
Mulberry Whatre you saying? The loan was granted
To the dockyards, right?
OCasey Thats right. However: who is the dockyards?
Flake (under his breath) Interesting question. . . . Hes got
something up his sleeve.
Clark (likewise) I wonder what.
OCasey Feeling alright, Dogsborough? Maybe its the air?
(To the others.) I mean, a person might be thinking:
While Sheets having dirt shovelled on his corpse
Might as well sprinkle a little shit on top for good measure.
I suspect
Clark it might be better, OCasey, if you didnt do so much
suspecting.
We got laws in this town against slander.
Mulberry Yeah, whats with all the innuendos? As I
understand it,
Dogsboroughs picked a man to come and clear the whole
thing up.
Lets just wait for him.
OCasey Hes late. And when he shows up, I hope
Hes got more to talk about than Sheet.
Flake We expect hell tell the truth and nothing but.
OCasey Really? An honest man, is he?
Fine with me. Sheets only been dead for a matter of
hours
32 The Resistible Rise of Arturo Ui
Six
Actor Head back. (Ui throws his head back.) The foot touches
the ground with the toe first. (Ui touches his toe to the ground first.)
Good. Terrific. Youve got a natural gift. Only . . . somethings
wrong with your arms. Too stiff. Wait a sec. Try bringing them
together in front of your privates. (Ui crosses his hands across his
privates while walking.) Not bad. Relaxed, yet resolved. But the
head stays back. Right. I think that should work well for your
purposes, Mr Ui. Anything else?
Ui Standing. In public.
Givola Park two big boys behind you and youll stand proud
enough.
Ui No, wrong. When I stand, I want people to look at me, not
at the two guys behind me. Here, fix me. (He takes up a pose, with
his arms crossed comfortably on his chest.)
Actor Thats possible. . . . But ordinary. You dont want to
look like a hairdresser, Mr Ui. Cross your arms this way. (He
folds his arms so that the back of his hands remain visible, resting on his
upper arms.) A very subtle change, but the effect is profound.
Compare them in the mirror, Mr Ui. (Ui tries the new arm-position
in the mirror.)
Ui Good.
Givola Why you doing this, boss? Just for the swells at the Trust?
Ui On the contrary. This is for the little guy.
Why do you think that Trust man, Clark,
Always looks so impressive?
Not for his own kind, thats for sure.
His bank account takes care of them
Just like I rely on my brave boys to make sure I get respect.
Clark puffs himself up to impress the little man. And so will I.
Givola Only, a person could say it looks a bit . . . affected.
People get rubbed the wrong way by that.
Ui Of course they do. But it doesnt matter what professors
Or smart-alecks think; all that counts is how the little
Man sees his master. Basta.
Six 39
Givola But why you want to flaunt this master thing, boss?
Wouldnt a nice white shirt and tie be better?
Ui Ive got old Dogsborough for that.
Givola Though hes looking a bit the worse for wear these days.
Like some precious old artefact, hes still an asset,
But no-ones too quick to want to show him off
Maybe he dont look so presentable anymore,
Like an old family Bible nobodyd opened for ages
Till one day some friends were flipping through it
And found a dried-up cockroach between the pages.
But I guess hes good enough for the Cauliflower folks.
Ui I decide whos respectable.
Givola Gottcha, boss. Nothing against Dogsborough! We can
still use him.
Even City Hall dont dare to drop him altogether.
Ui Sitting.
Actor Sitting. Sitting is the hardest, Mr Ui. Yes, some people
can walk, and some people can stand; but show me the man
who knows how to sit. Take a chair with a backrest, Mr Ui. But
dont lean back on it. Hands on your thighs, parallel to your
stomach, elbows out and away from the body. How long could
you sit like that, Mr Ui?
Ui Long as I want.
Actor Then thats great, Mr Ui.
Givola Maybe itd be a good idea, boss, when Dogsborough
croaks,
If you replaced him with our pal Giri.
Hes got a way with people, folksy-like.
Knows how to ham it up and laugh the plaster right off the
ceiling, if he has to.
But also when he maybe shouldnt like when, for example,
you go into your
Poor-son-of-the-Bronx routine, and go on about your seven
brave and loyal youths. . . .
40 The Resistible Rise of Arturo Ui
Ui Really. He laughs?
Givola Plaster right off the ceiling. Oh but dont tell him I
said nothing;
He might think Ive gone sour on him. Just maybe get him to
stop collecting hats.
Ui Hats? What do you mean?
Givola Hats of the people hes iced. Shows em off in public.
Its disgusting.
Ui I dont muzzle the animal that does my heavy lifting.
I overlook the foibles of my employees.
(Addressing the actor.) Now, speaking. Recite me something.
Actor Shakespeare. And nothing else. Caesar. Ancient hero.
(He pulls a little booklet from his pocket.) How about Mark Antonys
speech? Over Caesars corpse. Against Brutus. Leader of the
assassins. A good example of a popular speech, very famous. I
played Antony in Zenith, 1908. Just what you need, Mr Ui. (He
strikes a pose and recites Antonys speech line by line:) Friends, Romans,
Countrymen, lend me your ears!
(Ui, reading from the booklet, repeats each line, occasionally corrected by the
actor, yet still keeping his clipped and rough diction.)
I come to bury Caesar, not to praise him.
The evil that men do lives after them;
The good is oft interred with their bones;
So let it be with Caesar. The noble Brutus
Hath told you Caesar was ambitious.
If it were so, it was a grievous fault,
And grievously hath Caesar answerd it.
Seven
Givola Listen!
Ui In short, chaos rules.
Because if anyone can do whatever he wants, guided only by
his ego,
Then its every man for himself and that spells chaos.
You see, if Im just peacefully minding my grocery store,
Or, say, driving my delivery truck,
And some guy barges in, shouting Hands in the air!
Or pumps my tires full of lead the reign of peace and
quiets over.
I have to face the facts: this is what men are they aint no
little lambs.
If I dont want my neighbour to wreck my store, or make me
stick my hands up
Whenever he wants me to, when I could be using them to
count my cucumbers,
Then its up to me to do something. For such is man:
Man will never lay down his gun of his own free will
neither for goodness sake,
Nor to get his praises sung by the choirboys at City Hall.
Because if I dont shoot, the other guy will. Its only logical.
So what can we do, you ask.
Ill tell you. But first get this straight: What youve been doing
so far isnt working
Sitting passively behind your cash registers, hoping
everythingll turn out fine,
Divided and arguing among yourselves, lacking strong
protection,
Powerless against every gangster who comes along
This obviously cannot work. Therefore: the first thing you
need is unity.
Second? Sacrifice. What, I hear you say, Us? Make sacrifices?
Pay for protection, throw away 30 per cent, just for
protection? No way, no dice.
Our moneys too precious for that! Sure, if protection were
free, wed be all for it!
Well, my dear vegetable dealers, its not so simple. Only
death is free.
Seven 43
Eight
b. When the lights come up, the vegetable dealer Hook is in the witness box.
Defence Counsel Mr Hook, have you ever argued with the
defendant? Have you ever seen him before?
Hook Never.
Defence Counsel Have you ever seen Mr Giri?
Hook Yes, at the office of the Cauliflower Trust, on the day
of the fire.
Defence Counsel Before the fire?
Hook Immediately before the fire. He walked through the
office with four people, all carrying gasoline cans.
Commotion in the press gallery and among the bodyguards.
Judge Quiet in the press gallery!
Defence Counsel To which premises is your warehouse
adjoined, Mr Hook?
Hook To the premises of Sheets old dockyard. Theres a
passage that connects my warehouse directly to the yard.
50 The Resistible Rise of Arturo Ui
c. When the lights come back up, Hook is sitting in the witness box. Hes
a complete wreck, a cane beside him and bandages over his head and eyes.
Prosecutor You dont see so well, do you Mr Hook?
Hook (with difficulty) No.
Prosecutor Would you say that youre able to recognise
anyone clearly and with certainty?
Hook No.
Prosecutor Do you for example recognise that man over
there? (He points at Giri.)
Hook No.
Prosecutor You cant say that youve ever seen him before?
Hook No.
Prosecutor Now Mr Hook, this is a very important question.
Think carefully before you answer. The question is this: does
your warehouse adjoin the premises of Sheets old dockyard?
Hook (after a pause) No.
Prosecutor No further questions.
Darkness. More organ music.
Eight 51
d. When the lights come back up, Dockdaisy is sitting in the witness
box.
Dockdaisy (by rote, mechanically) I recognise the defendant
perfectly because of his guilty expression and because he
is 1.7 metres tall. I was informed by my sister-in-law that
he was seen in front of City Hall the day my husband was
shot while attempting to enter City Hall. He had a Webster
sub-machine-gun under his arm and created a suspicious
impression.
Darkness. More organ music.
e. When the lights come up, Giuseppe Givola is in the witness box.
The bodyguard Greenwool stands nearby.
Prosecutor It has been alleged that certain individuals
were seen carrying cans of gasoline through the offices of the
Cauliflower Trust, just before the arson. What do you know
about this?
Givola The only one who could have been doing that is
Mr Greenwool.
Prosecutor Mr Greenwool is an employee of yours,
Mr Givola?
Givola Thats right.
Prosecutor Whats your occupation, Mr Givola?
Givola Florist.
Prosecutor Is this a business that requires large quantities of
gasoline?
Givola (seriously) Nah, just for the aphids.
Prosecutor What was Mr Greenwool doing at the office of
the Cauliflower Trust?
Givola He was singing a song.
Prosecutor Then he couldnt very well be carrying cans of
gasoline to Hooks warehouse at the same time, could he.
52 The Resistible Rise of Arturo Ui
f. When the lights come up, the courtroom shows every sign of total
exhaustion.
Judge The Press has been insinuating that this court has been
subject to inappropriate pressure from certain quarters. The
court wishes to state that it has been subject to no pressure of
any kind and is conducting this trial in perfect freedom. I think
this statement will suffice.
Prosecutor Your Honour. In view of the fact that the
accused persists in simulating dementia, the prosecution
regards any further questioning as impossible. We therefore
move that
Defence Counsel Your Honour! The accused is coming to!
Commotion.
Fish (seeming to wake up) Arlarlwarlassrlarlawassrl.
Defence Counsel Water! Your Honour, I move that
defendant Fish be questioned!
Great commotion.
Prosecutor Objection! Fish is obviously not in his right mind.
Its all just tactics on the part of the defence, cheap sensationalism
and an egregious attempt to manipulate public opinion!
Fish Water. (He rises, supported by the Defence Counsel.)
Eight 53
g. As the lights come up for the last time, the Judge rises and delivers the
sentence in a monotone. The defendant is white as a sheet.
Judge Charles Fish, I find you guilty of arson and sentence
you to fifteen years.
A sign appears.
Nine 55
Nine
Ten
Roma Ill pay him a visit on the way back. At the flower shop.
Put in an order for some nice big wreaths for Dogsborough.
For Giri the clown too. Ill pay (indicating his gun) in cash.
Ui Ernesto, this no-good plot of the Dogsboroughs, Clarks
and Dullfeets,
To squeeze me out of Cicero by branding me a criminal it
must be
Crushed. Im trusting you.
Roma You wont regret it. Only, I need you to be there,
At the start, to fire the boys up, so theyll see things in the
right light.
Im no talker . . .
Ui (shakes his hand) Done.
Roma I knew it, Arturo. This is how it was meant to be.
Us together. Just you and me. Like old times, eh, Arturo?
(To his men.) See? Whatd I tell you? Arturos with us after all.
Ui Ill be there.
Roma Eleven.
Ui Where?
Roma The garage.
I feel reborn! Cmon boys: lets knock em down and make
em crawl.
He leaves quickly with his men. Ui, pacing back and forth, rehearses the
speech that hell give to Romas men.
Ui Friends. I regret to inform you that word has reached my ear
Of a heinous plot. My closest associates, men I trusted
implicitly,
Have been ganging up behind my back. Greedy and
disloyal
By nature, they have now, out of mad ambition, formed an
alliance
With the kingpins of the Cauliflower Trust No, that wont
work
Ten 65
Ui This is an outrage.
Mrs Dullfeet No, no I dont mean you. Mr Clark has
reassured me
About that. Its that man Roma.
Clark (quickly) Stay cool, Ui.
Giri Cicero
Ui I refuse to listen to this. What do you take me for?
That does it! Look: Ernesto Roma is my man.
And I will not tolerate being lectured about
Who I associate with. Its insulting.
Giri Boss!
Mrs Dullfeet Ignatius Dullfeet will fight against the Romas
of this world
To his dying breath.
Clark (coldly) And rightly so. The Trust is behind your husband
100 per cent. Ui, be reasonable. Friendship and business
Are two different things. Dont you agree?
Ui (equally coldly) You hard of hearing, Mr Clark?
Clark Mrs Dullfeet, my sincere apologies for the outcome of
this interview.
(To Ui as he leaves with Mrs Dullfeet.) Foolish words, Ui.
Left alone, Ui and Giri avoid each others eyes.
Giri The attack on Caruthers truck. And now this. You
know this means war.
Ui Im not afraid of war.
Giri Fine, dont be afraid. Youll only be up against the Trust,
the Press,
Dogsborough and his gang not to mention the whole
damned town!
Boss, listen to reason. You can bet your sweet patootie
Ui spare me your advice. I know my duty.
A sign appears.
Eleven 67
Eleven
Twelve
Dullfeet My intention
Ui is exactly the same as mine. We both want a healthy
economy.
The small shopkeepers having a tough time right now;
He needs to be able sell his vegetables in peace. Which means
Getting protection when hes attacked.
Dullfeet (firmly) But he must retain the freedom to decide
whether or not
He wants protection. That, Mr Ui, is my main concern.
Ui And mine too. Of course he must be free to decide. Why?
Because when he chooses his protector, when he puts his faith
In someone who was his choice from the start, then a trusting
atmosphere prevails.
This, Mr Dullfeet, I have always stressed.
Dullfeet Im happy to hear you say it.
Because, not to sound provocative or anything,
Cicero will not put up with force.
Ui Of course not. Nobody tolerates coercion unless he has to.
Dullfeet Quite frankly, if this merger with the Trust means
That the whole bloody pack of plague-infested rats
Is going to be exported from Chicago into Cicero,
Then I will come out against it.
Pause.
Ui Alright, Mr Dullfeet, lets both be frank. In the past,
maybe
A few things happened that werent up to the highest moral
standards.
Such is the nature of war. But not among friends.
Dullfeet, what I want from you from now on is that you trust
me,
And regard me as your friend, a friend wholl never let you
down,
No matter what. And furthermore, and more specifically,
That you stop printing all those horror stories about me,
Twelve 73
Which only make bad blood. I dont think thats too much to
ask. . . .
Dullfeet Believe me, if nothing happens,
Ill be happy not to write about it.
Ui I should hope so. And if ever there were some tiny little
incident
Because men are men and not exactly angels
Then I hope you wont start saying that the place is
Overrun with gangsters and the sky is raining bullets! I cant
promise you
That our drivers might not use a four-letter word from time
to time.
Theyre only human. And maybe a wholesaler
Might buy a beer for one of our men, to insure prompt
Delivery of his tomatoes; but this doesnt mean
Were suddenly in the grip of organised crime!
Betty Mr Ui, my husbands human too.
Givola Of course he is. So, now that everythings been
Peacefully discussed and settled so nicely among friends,
Id like to take you on a little tour of my establishment. . . .
Ui After you, Mr Dullfeet.
They tour Givolas flower shop. Ui leads Betty, Givola Dullfeet.
The couples alternate in disappearing behind flower arrangements. Givola
and Dullfeet appear.
Givola These oaks, Dullfeet, are Japanese.
Dullfeet Around a pond . . . nice trees.
Givola Swimming carp-fish, petalled bowers. . . .
Dullfeet They say the wicked dont like flowers.
They disappear. Ui and Betty appear.
Betty A strong mans stronger when he dont use force.
Ui He who shoots justly need feel no remorse.
Betty Open discussion shows people respect.
74 The Resistible Rise of Arturo Ui
Thirteen
Giri (wearing Dullfeets hat) Tact? Seven kids is more like it.
Clark and Mulberry come out of the chapel.
Clark Dammit what are you two doing here? Standing
guard at the coffin
In case the truth leaks out?
Givola Hey, chum, why so hostile? Dont this location inspire
you to heavenly thoughts?
The boss is in a bad mood today. This is not his kind of place.
Mulberry You butchers! Dullfeet kept his word and his
silence.
Givola Silence aint enough. What we need is not just people
Who keep their mouths shut, but who speak up for us loudly!
Mulberry What could he say except that youre all butchers?
Givola He had to go. This little guy was the pore through
which
The vegetable business occasionally broke out in a cold sweat.
We couldnt stand the stink of him.
Giri Yeah, and what about your cauliflower? You want to sell
it in Cicero or not?
Mulberry Not with butchery!
Giri How else? Oh, I see, thats rich. You holler for meat,
then curse the cook
Because he walks around with a butchers knife. We thought
you fellasd be
Licking your chops, and all you do is insult us! Getattahere.
Mulberry It was a black day, Clark, when you brought these
people in.
Clark Youre telling me.
They leave, gloomily.
Giri Cmon, boss, dont let those sourpusses spoil the funeral
for you.
Givola Quiet. Here comes Betty.
78 The Resistible Rise of Arturo Ui
Fourteen
1
Shakespeare, Macbeth, Act III, scene 4.
Fifteen 83
Fifteen
Epilogue
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